Santa Rosa: A city, not a town
EDITOR: Of course, the city of Santa Rosa OK’d the demolishing of the Summerfield Cinema (“An unhappy ending,” July 20). It seems the city is removing so many places of wonderful memories for its people. This is no longer a town. It is a city. This time leaving people without what may be their only enjoyment that is easy to get to. How many “fitness centers,” i.e., gyms, have opened and closed in the past few years? Is it time for a completely new city council?
SHEILA HIRSCH
Santa Rosa
Caitlin Clark’s achievements
EDITOR: Am I missing something or has the sports department dropped the ball on what will likely be the most important sporting news in 2024?
Catlin Clark continues to stun the athletic world by achieving goals no WNBA player has ever achieved. Since its inception, WNBA attendance has hovered around 4,000, with rare sellouts. Clark plays for the Indiana Fever, and every home game this year has been sold out. Several away games have been moved to venues with 20,000 capacity and they have sold out. The Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce estimates that “Clarkanomics” added $100 million to the Indianapolis economy.
Clark recently set a new WNBA record of 19 assists in a single game, and if her points scored are added to the assists that resulted in scores, she leads all WNBA players by over 100 points.
Some sports writers and commentators are including her in the elite pantheon of athletes with Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Steph Curry. Games she has played in (and televised on ESPN) have broken all WNBA records with over 2 million viewers. If she continues at her current pace, she could earn the WNBA MVP award for 2024.
LOWELL YOUNG
St. Helena
Illegitimate court
EDITOR: With their decision in Donald Trump’s immunity case, the Supreme Court has completely delegitimized itself. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had already ruled unanimously that Trump had zero immunity. Most legal scholars thought the Supreme Court would not take up this frivolous case. To everyone’s surprise they did, and then ruled that Trump indeed had almost total immunity by creating a distinction nonexistent in the Constitution between official and unofficial acts.
Suddenly, originalism was cast aside so Trump could escape his serious crimes for multiple attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. This decision was reached with two justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, who should have recused themselves and who further disgraced themselves and the Supreme Court by sitting on this case despite deep personal connections.
For 250 years it was unanimously understood that the Constitution held that no man is above the law because the framers did not want a kinglike authoritarian to rule our country. This case creates a kinglike presidency contrary to the founders’ core beliefs and 250 years of Supreme Court decisions. As such, this current Supreme Court has distinguished itself as supremely illegitimate.
TOM LANZONE
Sebastopol
Subverting democracy
EDITOR: The Board of Supervisors voted to remove crucial language from the ballot question for Measure J, the measure to phase out factory farms (“Disputed ballot measure revised,” July 11). They removed the phrase “To promote animal welfare, water quality, and other goals” after county counsel claimed that the language, which they themselves wrote back in May, violates Elections Code Section 13119, which says the “statement of the measure shall be a true and impartial synopsis of the purpose of the proposed measure.” But with this removal, the ballot question has no purpose statement, which measures are entitled to have. The board justified this targeted attack on Measure J by arguing the concentration of animals in a facility doesn’t affect the welfare of animals or the amount of discharge.
I’m stunned, and I wonder if they know they’re being recorded. They want us to believe the amount of animals kept inside one facility doesn’t have any bearing on the quality of life of the animals or the saturation of waste discharge? Are the supervisors claiming they think animal hoarding has no impact on the quality of life of animals? I know the average voter is smarter than that.
SAMANTHA EACHUS
Santa Rosa
Stepping aside
EDITOR: One elderly presidential candidate, who has sometimes struggled to communicate his (mostly coherent) thoughts about policy, cares about the country enough that he has made way for someone younger and more vigorous. I thank him for that. Isn’t it time for his elderly erstwhile opponent, who speaks mostly in gibberish, to also step aside for the good of the country? Maybe he will. He donated $6,000 to Kamala Harris’ 2014 campaign for California attorney general, so clearly he knows she’s worth supporting.
JACK ZIEGLER
Santa Rosa
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